david@cvl.UUCP (David Harwood) (12/05/84)
There is an inquiry From: geb@cadre.UUCP about what it means "to go to hell". I am not a religious scholar, but an ordinary member of the Catholic Church; I believe that the original meaning of the concept was simply to be cut off forever from God; this is by an intentional, irredeemable presumption against the will of God. In a sense, it is the point at which repentance is impossible; no one, but God only, knows when this point has been reached. As for the afterlife, no one knows about this; there are theological arguments about this, but this must remain a matter of faith. Nevertheless, it is true that the one who is cut off from God is already dead in his appreciation of the meaning of life. But the mercy of God is to raise the living from these dead, so that we who are called to be Christians may share the eternal life of Christ. For ours is the God of the living. Those righteous non-Christians of every faith are also enlightened by God and share in the eternal life, though they may even disavow so-called Christianity. It is said that everyone who has faith in His Name shall be saved. But there is a possibility of misunderstanding this. As Jesus said, "Why do you call me Lord, and not do what I say? I do not know you." The point is that the meaning of His Name is not to be understood to designate a person or a belief about a person. This will not save anyone. The meaning of the Name of Christ is his spiritual Presence in this world. We either share in this eternal life of His or we do not. As for the suffering of those who are "in hell", we may see it everywhere. And it would be a terrible thing to live to the end, but not to be at peace with ourselves then. If we are not conscious of the event of our death, this may mean that our last state of identity is, in a sense, forever. But perhaps God is merciful even then. Dostoevski has said that the one who does not love, that one is already in hell. I would say that the rest is less important. David Harwood